2018 was a high water mark when it came to the amount of diversity showcased by the organization and its community. But still the criticism for Americana’s lack of diversity have grown louder, bolstered by the current political climate where many feel they need to insist upon more diversity.
Beyond the words and twang the voice and music may carry, you just have a belief in what you’re seeing and hearing from Jaime Wyatt. This isn’t some delicate flower. This is a woman who’s lived through the worst to tell her tale, unafraid of shame or judgement, and hoping to spin her story toward one of redemption and victory.
When you first heard about Carrie Underwood’s unfortunate fall and her need for hospitalization in November of 2017, it was hard not to feel bad for the country star regardless of how you felt about her music. Releasing the song “Cry Pretty” as part of the personal revelations about the injury made the story especially […]
Membership to the Grand Ole Opry is always a hot button issue among country fans, just as much as induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame is. As country music’s oldest and most hallowed institution, an invitation to join the Opry is one of the most honored opportunities a country artist can receive, and […]
After it was announced right before AmericanaFest that Nashville resident Logan Ledger was working with legendary producer T Bone Burnett and had signed to Rounder Records, he quickly became one of the artists people were putting on their radar to watch perform.
Owning a #2 and a #7 record on the Billboard Country Albums chart, as well as a strong fan base in Texas that sold out an appearance at the vaunted Houston Rodeo, Cody Johnson doesn’t need to jump through the hoops that other developing artists are sometimes asked to, though some labels still tried as they pursued him.
Virtually everyone has been ignoring Caitlyn Smith’s record Starfire, and specifically her song “This Town Is Killing Me.” With almost no press, with absolutely no radio play, and very little attention via streaming playlists, “This Town Is Killing Me” has received well over 5 million plays on Spotify alone since its release.
Encompassing over 16 hours across eight separate episodes, the film will include footage from 56 separate interviews with artists and historians, including interviews with 40 Country Music Hall of Famers, and a few artists who have passed away since film production was commenced.
The 17th Annual Americana Music Awards held at the Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night (9/12) found the organization addressing the social tensions boiling in America, the call for more diversity throughout culture, and facing it’s own transitionary period for the awards themselves.
After making some remarks about keeping the back door open and allowing people like himself in, and making reference to his mispronounced name, Tyler Childers delivered a directed and pointed diss to the term “Americana,” saying it was a distraction from the real problems of country music.
Look, it’s not really the business of myself or anyone else to ask why you have chosen or been forced to virtually disappear from the public spotlight for going on almost 5 years now. But dammit, it just doesn’t feel right that we’re experiencing all of this success throughout independent country music now, and you’re not here.
Ever since The Randy Rogers Band began dropping hints and allegations about working with Dave Cobb on a new album, fans have been waiting impatiently for further news or hard details. There is more news finally, but folks are going to have to wait a little bit longer before the new record hits shelves.
Who are the mysterious Stryker Brothers? And are we to believe the elaborate back story about a couple of singing brothers named Coal and Flynt from the 70’s who hobnobbed with the Texas Outlaws of the era & other country music royalty, only to die in a prison fire & have tapes of their music discovered after all of these years?
Kane Brown and Luke Combs couldn’t be more different. But they are both a new style of country star who made their ascent into mainstream stardom 100% during the streaming era, and due to the streaming era specifically. Last week, both artists announced their own arena tours.
If you’ve ever doubted the existence of a higher power, or the ability in all of its supreme benevolence to summon the forces of nature and impose its will upon the crust of the Earth, perhaps you now have a reason to hit your knees.
Over the last few years, there’s been two primary names that people in-the-know about the doings of true country music have been sliding Saving Country Music’s way and saying they’re ones to watch. The first name was Tyler Childers, and we all know how that turned out. The second is Logan Ledger.
Not since Keith Urban have we witnessed an artist trying so transparently to defy their age, and grasp for radio relevancy. “Young As We Are Tonight” is just bad all around, from the writing to the production. And “Young As We Are Tonight” will not go anywhere.
By the bullet points on the resume, Burt Reynolds had little to do with country music. Not since Gram Parsons did a figure in American pop culture act like a bigger bridge to country music, and proved how it could be cool. For most famous humans, the myth precedes them. But with Burt Reynolds, the myth really was the man.
Nobody has benefited more from the momentum of Sturgill Simpson than fellow Kentucky songwriter turned burgeoning star Tyler Childers. But now Tyler is enjoying a momentum all his own, and if anything, is even further ahead than Sturgill was at this point in his career.
About the only thing hotter than John Prine in Americana music at the moment is the is the foreign country destination festival, so why not combine the two. And if you have a boatload of money, and/or a boat or plane to get your ass to the Dominican Republic, then you too can be part of John Prine’s inaugural “All The Best Festival.”
A couple of days after Carrie Underwood called out country radio for not supporting strong women, it’s become official that Carrie Underwood’s latest single “Cry Pretty” is done at radio, will be the worst-performing single of her career, and has tanked two weeks ahead of her new album being released.
The newest additions to Saving Country Music’s Top 25 Playlist start with the opening tracks to a couple of cool new records. John R. Miller and the Engine Lights have a new album out called ‘The Trouble You Follow,’ and the witty and true “Holy Dirt” tops the newest incarnation of the playlist
As real as the sharp curves of mountain roads and the abandoned shucks of coal towns, John R. Miller weaves his stories of struggle and survival with a poetic wit, honesty and abandon, and a palpable authenticity. These are songs so tucked away up a holler, to find them you have to creep past No Trespassing signs.
The role of mainstream country music in this contentious time of ever-present social cataclysm and perennial political polarization is starting to materialize, and in pretty conclusive form. Country music is seeing all the turmoil, and wanting to be a calming, unifying voice, instead of choosing sides, and lending to the discord.
